


Puzzle Pieces

by tinarebekka



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 04:13:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4005484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinarebekka/pseuds/tinarebekka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What a change a day makes…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puzzle Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Written for hd_smoochfest in 2010.

The fireplace roared to life and a head peeked through the flames. The room was empty but the redhead wasn’t easily discouraged.  

“Malfoy?” 

Silence. 

“Malfoy! Get in here this instant!” 

More silence. 

“Either you show your face right now or I’m coming through!”  

That threat was to be taken very seriously, but at first it didn’t look like there was anyone present to hear it – and pay attention. 

“Consider this--” 

“Yes, yes, I’m here! Where’s the fire?” Draco Malfoy rushed into the room, his robes billowing behind him. He didn’t exactly run because that wouldn’t be justifiable, but there was a hounded look about him. 

“Ha ha. – Listen, is your son home?” 

Draco blinked. “Well, good day to you, too, Ginevra. – And I’d be grateful if you’d tell me why you’re screaming the place down just to ask me about my son’s whereabouts?” 

“I don’t believe we’re on first-name terms, Malfoy. I’d appreciate you address me formally.” 

“Of course.” If he was irritated by her request he certainly did a good job of hiding it.  

She raised an eyebrow and Draco was certain she was tapping a foot on the ground, demonstrating her impatience. Well, she wanted something from him, didn’t she? Surely she could be bothered to ask again. 

“Malfoy. Is he home? Yes or no?” 

“And this is your business, why?” 

“Don’t be difficult! Is he in or not? Or don’t you know where he is?” 

His eyes narrowed at the implied accusation but he refused to comment on the barb with more than one word. “Lovely.  I know where he is, all right, but I still don’t see why you should know.” 

She grew agitated. “Malfoy, please.” 

Recognising her curt behaviour for what it was – worry – Draco nodded. “He’s here. In his room. Alone.” 

Ginny deflated visibly. “Are you sure?” 

He bristled inwardly at her need to question him but he managed to keep his tone light. “Positive.”  

“I… okay. Thank you.” 

Although Draco figured he might regret this he felt compelled to ask, “Can I help you? Do you want me to get him for you?” 

“No. No, it’s fine.” Ginny looked pensive for a moment and then she disappeared. 

%&%&% 

Ginny Potter pulled her head back out of the fireplace and straightened herself. She shook off the uneasy feeling she always got by talking to Malfoy and headed to her daughter’s room.  

On the short way over she cursed her misfortune. She was getting more worried by the minute, which was ridiculous since he was old enough, but somehow she couldn’t help herself. However, she shouldn’t have to deal with this. It wasn’t her fault to begin with as it was Harry’s turn to look after their children. And if he had done just that instead of doing whatever he considered to be more important… But those thoughts didn’t help as she had to concentrate on the task at hand.  

She knocked briefly and entered. “Hello.” 

“Mum. Did you find him? Is he with Scorpius?” Lily stood up. 

Ginny shook her head no. “Unfortunately not… His father insists that he’s home and doesn’t have company.” 

“And he’s…” Lily stopped but Ginny thought she knew what she had been about to ask.  

“I think he told the truth. I didn’t give him a reason to lie.” She sounded confident but silently wondered why Lily had doubts. 

Ginny’s opinion on the Malfoys was conflicted. She had come to terms with the fact that young Malfoy and her two younger kids, first Albus and then Lily, formed something like a friendship with him. She also didn’t think, anymore, that Draco Malfoy was evil incarnated but she couldn’t forget, and much less forgive, him for what he had done to her and her loved ones in his youth. That might be decades ago, but since he never even apologised Ginny didn’t see a reason why she should change her perspective. She was civil on the few occasions they met and ignored him otherwise. 

“And what do we do now? Should we inform Dad?” 

Ginny swallowed hard. “Let’s think for a moment before we do that,” she suggested. “There has to be something we missed. Albus would never just disappear, I’m sure there’s a reason.” 

Lily’s eyes widened. “Like what?” 

“Well, maybe he wanted to meet someone and just forgot to tell you before he went off?” 

“He said he’d be back in five minutes and that was five hours ago,” Lily reminded her mother with barely restricted impatience in her voice. 

“Yes. But this is Albus we’re talking about. He can get a little absentminded sometimes. You know how he is, exactly like your father when his head is elsewhere.” Ginny wasn’t sure if she tried to placate her daughter or herself. 

“But what if something happened to him and it’s getting worse because we’re just sitting back and waiting?” Lily asked with a worried undertone clearly audible in her voice.  

Ginny frowned. She refused to give in to blind panic but she had to admit that her daughter had a point and dismissing it might be the wrong thing to do. Sighing, she pondered her possibilities. She couldn’t do much on her own, she knew that. It didn’t make sense for her to run out there without any plan whatsoever and comb through London on her own. That would be stupid and short-sighted and Ginny might not be a know-it-all auror like her husband or her brother, but she was able to use her head and think strategically. 

“Mum?” Lily hovered by her side now, almost bouncing on her feet. She was obviously anxious to get started. 

Her enthusiasm made Ginny smile. Her daughter wasn’t the most patient of her children, but she still wanted to please her mother and obeyed more often than not. Unfortunately Ginny knew she didn’t have that luxury with her sons, maybe she had never had it. But that wasn’t her concern now, was it? She had other things to worry about and she had to stay focused. 

“Lily, does he have anything with him?” 

Lily shrugged. “I’m not sure. I think he’s got enough with him to pay for a few tickets if that’s what you wanted to know…?” 

“Tickets? What tickets? Why should he pay for tickets?” 

“Er… Single tickets. For the tube.” 

“Muggle London?” Ginny asked weakly. Oh, things had just changed from bad to worse. She hadn’t thought to clarify where Lily had lost Albus earlier; she had just assumed they had been in the wizarding world. And she had every right to assume that. “Who allowed you to go there?” she hissed. 

Lily looked taken aback. “Why? We said we’d go shopping, so what’s wrong with that?” 

“You know what’s wrong with that! We can’t ensure your safety there as well as we can here!” If her voice was a little shrill at the moment Ginny thought that could be excused.  

Lily stared at her, clearly confused. 

Okay, Ginevra, Ginny told herself firmly, get a hold on yourself. This was ridiculous. She couldn’t let her daughter know how worried she was, she wouldn’t be able to understand anyway. So she had to rein in her panic and come up with a plan. A plan that helped her find Albus before anything happened to him; preferably a plan that didn’t involve Harry since she felt that would only complicate the situation. 

Ginny muttered a few soothing words for Lily before she hurried out of the room toward the Floo, grim determination visible on her face. She had a few calls to make. 

%&%&% 

Ron Weasley winced. He was torn between worrying about his nephew’s whereabouts and mourning the loss of the first day off he’d had in ages. He also wasn’t looking forward to his wife’s reaction to the recent change in their plans. Shaking his head, he got up and went to look for Hermione, figuring that putting things off wouldn’t help him in the least. 

He found her in the kitchen, supervising their children while they packed their knapsacks for the excursion she had planned for today. Ron knew she had spent quite a lot of time evaluating everybody’s interests and sorting them in order to make this outing enjoyable for the entire family. He hated to disappoint her. 

“’Mione…” 

“Oh, there you are! Finally. I was starting to get worried.” She turned to him and smiled. “What did Ginny want? She sounded rather anxious.” 

“Mmm.” Ron waited until he caught her gaze and motioned to her to follow him out of the room. 

She frowned but put the mug down she was sipping from, nodding her assent. As soon as they stepped into the hall, she was in his face. “You will not tell me that you’re going to cancel our plans, Ronald Weasley!” 

He nodded meekly.  

“No.” She crossed her arms and stared at him provocatively.  

Ron gulped. “Don’t you even want to know what happened?” 

Her gaze softened and Ron knew he had her. She was disappointed, yes, but she knew it was an emergency or else he wouldn’t do anything like that. So once she got over her initial anger, she’d do anything in her might to help. 

Feeling reassured, Ron started explaining what his sister had told him. Hermione didn’t interrupt him, but when he was finished she looked at him in disbelief. “You expect me to sacrifice our plans to look for a fifteen year old boy? Who just went shopping a few hours ago? It’s not even noon yet, so surely he’s going to be home before it’ll be dark and I don’t see what terrors might harm him in broad daylight in the middle of London. He’s not a helpless child.”  

Ron nodded. She was right, of course. Albus wasn’t a child anymore and he was usually capable of looking after himself, but he could understand Ginny’s worries. He had left his sister to her own devices – his younger sister who hadn’t been to Muggle London more than a handful of times and who thankfully had found her way home safely – after he had told her he’d be back in a moment. Well, he hadn’t come back and that led to all kinds of conclusions. Some of them included all sorts of crazy teenage thoughts and made Ron believe the kid would come home rather sooner than later and laugh at the adults for being worried out of their minds. But Ron could also see various scenarios where Albus was in some kind of danger and he couldn’t make it home on his own. Whether he had just gone lost or hurt himself or whether he dared to wonder if a third party was involved Ron didn’t know, but he had to admit that he was starting to get a little anxious himself. 

He did his best to explain his way of thinking to Hermione and in the end their deeply ingrained love for their family and their sense of duty won over. Ron went to let Ginny know that he’d be over soon and Hermione informed Hugo and Rose about the change of plans. She had offered to take them to London. That way she didn’t have to ruin her children’s day completely and three more pairs of eyes would be searching for Albus – subtly, of course. Hermione had argued that waltzing in there with a horde of Aurors was not the best way to tackle this situation, anyway. Ron was inclined to believe her. 

%&%&% 

Lily Potter watched her uncle step out of the Floo and went to greet him immediately. He hugged her back for a brief moment before he sat her down, switching into business mode. 

“Lily, how long did you wait for Albus to return?” 

“I’m not sure, but it must have been an hour or something like that. There was this uh, restaurant nearby and I watched people coming, getting food, eating and leaving again. So I’d say it was a while.” 

Uncle Ron nodded. “Yes, you’re right. It was very clever of you to notice.” He grinned at her and Lily was proud. Obviously she did the right thing to pay attention to something like that. She was happy, now she didn’t feel quite as stupid as she had before. 

Her mother entered the living room, probably having heard his voice. She looked relieved when she saw him but other than greeting him quickly she didn’t interrupt and he refocused on her. 

“Did something happen before he left?”  

“No.” Lily shook her head. As far as she knew nothing had happened. They had spent some time in Diagon Alley but quickly decided that it was too boring which was why they went to Muggle London. Everything had been great and they had fun looking around.  

“Did you fight?” 

“No. We got along fine.” 

“Mmm. What were you doing right before he disappeared?” 

Lily shrugged. She had no idea what he was digging for. “We were shopping, Uncle Ron.” She looked at him helplessly. “We were just walking down the street and we discussed where we wanted to go next. I said I’d have to buy a birthday present and that I wanted to look somewhere else since the department store we’d been in wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be.” 

“And? What did he say?” 

“He said he’d just have to check something for a second and asked me to wait for him, mentioning that he’d be faster without me tagging along. It made sense because there were lots of people everywhere and it was difficult not losing sight of one another when we were together.” 

“Did he say what exactly he wanted to do?” 

“No. I’m sorry…” Lily stared into her hands. She should have insisted that he take her with him, she thought, but she hadn’t known that he’d never come back, so it hadn’t occurred to her earlier. 

Her mother inched closer to her on the sofa, offering silent comfort and support. 

“And then?” 

Lily sighed. She knew her uncle was good at his job and that he could be awfully persistent, but somehow it was more fun watching him interrogating others. 

“When he didn’t come back I waited a bit longer and in the end I thought going home and informing Mum would be the best. I didn’t know where I should start looking for him and I didn’t want to get lost as well.” 

“You think he got lost?” 

“Ron, please, how is Lily to know? She made the best of the situation, wouldn’t you say?” 

“Of course she did,” Uncle Ron agreed easily and grinned at her. “Do you remember any street names? The name of the department store you’d been in last or anything else that might help us find the place again?” 

%&%&% 

Harry Potter peered out from under the thick blankets that covered him. Groaning, he pulled them back over his head, shielding him from the light. Some inconsiderate person had to have pulled the curtains open and what looked suspiciously like midday sunlight was flooding the room. Disgusting. 

Closing his eyes this time, he risked lifting the blankets once more and found that it was bearable. He nodded happily to himself and flinched. That hurt. Why did he have to have a headache like this when he hadn’t even been drinking? That seemed rather unfair but unfortunately there was no one around who’d listen to his complaints. There was nothing he could do about that, but he had to do something about the pain and so Harry forced one eye open once more, checking his surroundings. 

Just like he had suspected, he was alone. But some kind soul had placed a vial with what looked like headache potion on the bedside table. Probably the one who he called inconsiderate earlier, Harry thought and apologised mentally. 

He gulped the liquid down, wrinkling his nose at the taste, and lay back. He figured that while he waited for the potion to take effect he might just as well get a little more sleep. 

When he woke again some time later he noticed another presence in the room with him. 

“Good morning.” 

“Funny. It’s more like good afternoon, sleepyhead. Is your headache finally better?”  

Harry sat up. Yes, even the movement was free of pain and he passed the information along, adding his thanks. 

“Good. Does that mean you’re getting up now?” 

“I’m seriously considering it,” Harry said, regret clearly audible in his voice. This was the first free day he had had in ages and of course his body chose that day to gift him with an awful migraine. Always the dutiful working man, keeping one’s illness to the days off, a voice sneered in his head. 

“Come and join us for lunch if you want.”  

The chair beside Harry’s bed scraped back an inch or two and soon he was on his own again. He sighed. Now that he was awake he could get up as well and go downstairs. He wasn’t especially hungry, but decided that ignoring the invitation would be impolite. Knowing how much his host set value on manners, Harry didn’t want to seem ungrateful. 

Just as he shrugged on yesterday’s robes, a thought struck him. He wasn’t quite sure what, but somehow he knew he had forgotten something important. 

%&%&% 

Albus Potter looked around him and sighed. To him everything looked the same: nothing but stores with some restaurants in between and people, lots of people, everywhere. However, though it looked barely familiar, he was sure that this was the place he had left Lily before he took off; he had made a point of memorizing the name of the store and the name of the street, but unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen. In theory, he knew that there was no reason to panic, he was certain she was still somewhere close and he just couldn’t see her, but he couldn’t help getting agitated a little bit.  

Cursing his height, or rather the lack thereof, Al jumped up and down a few times, trying to catch a glimpse of his sister, but no such luck. There were so many people surrounding him, and most of them were bigger than him, so it was hard to see anything besides the crowd milling around. He halfway expected Lily to be among them, walking around and looking for him. She’d have waited for him a few minutes and when she had realised he wouldn’t come back, she probably went investigating, curious stupid idiot that she was.  

Well, he couldn’t blame her, could he? If he were the one left in front of a department store with the promise his companion would be back soon and that was half an hour ago, he would start searching for them, too. Lily, being different from him in many ways, was still his sibling and she was a Potter. He wanted to hang onto his anger, the anger that had driven him away from her, but he couldn’t do that. Because, either way, guilty of the things he accused her of in his head or not, she was gone and Al had no idea where to start looking for her. He sincerely doubted that she knew her way home from here and so he resolved he’d not let her down a second time in one day. She was his little sister; he had lost her and it was his job to find her and bring her home. 

Yes, that was what he’d do. Al nodded determined and took off. It didn’t take him all that long to realise that it hadn’t been one of his better ideas. 

%&%&% 

They’d been searching for an hour, circling the area where Al and Lily had parted ways. They had decided to separate, hoping to increase the chances of catching a glimpse of the missing boy, and met up regularly in order to check each other’s progress. 

“Gin, have you considered telling Harry by now?”  

Ginny’s head snapped up. “No.” 

“No, you haven’t thought about it or no, you won’t tell him?”  

“I did give it a thought and no, I’m not going to inform him. Obviously he found something more important to do today than spend the day with his children like he promised them.” 

“I’m sure he has his reasons--” 

“Probably. But to be honest, I don’t really want to know.” 

“You blame him?” Ron asked tentatively. 

“Oh, why would I do such a thing?” Ginny scoffed. “He promised. He wasn’t here. Something happened.  Yes, we don’t know if it’s as bad as it looks like right now and for all our sakes I hope it’s not, but still… Ron, I’m so mad at him! I know it’s irrational and teenagers go shopping without their parents all the time, but he said he’d be there and – shit.” Ginny’s face crumpled. 

Ron’s gaze lingered on her, his eyes full of sympathy.  

%&%&% 

Scorpius Malfoy picked at the food on his plate rather listlessly. He wasn’t really hungry and he was bored out of his mind. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had, but he figured it was worth a try. Getting a rise out of his father was always entertaining – one way or another. 

He felt his father’s gaze settling on him; the tension was almost palpable. Any time now he’d start lecturing him and if he played his cards right, a nice little fight would break out. If he found himself in a desperate need of entertainment, a battle of wills with his father was always a welcome diversion. 

Someone came hurrying toward the dining room, the fast-paced steps sounding loud on the marble floor. Only moments later Mr. Potter rushed into the room, clearly agitated and Scorpius’ eyes lit up. It seemed like today was his lucky day. 

“Draco, I’ve forgotten something really, really important and I’ve got to leave immediately. I’m sorry about lunch and thank you for last night and--” Mr. Potter stopped mid-sentence, panting. 

“Yes?” 

“I’m an idiot.” 

His father nodded, not impressed. “What did you forget?” 

“I – I was supposed to spend the day with my children,” Mr. Potter admitted. 

“Oh, that reminds me… Your wife Fire-called me today…” 

“My… What did she want? Was she looking for me? But then why would she... Uh, what did she say?” He bounced on his feet and Scorpius grinned. The man was nervous. Huh! He’d known that something had been a little off during the last few weeks and maybe now he’d finally learn what was going on. Scorpius almost forgot to swallow out of excitement. That, and he didn’t want to miss anything, anything at all. His eyes fixed on the dark-haired man still standing in the door; he waited with bated breath for the things to come. 

“She asked about Scorpius. She wanted to know where he was, implying that I didn’t know. I told her, asked her if I could help with anything and she…declined. End of our conversation.” Father’s tone was rather icy, Scorpius thought. 

Mr. Potter’s eyes went wide behind his glasses. “She… Oh gods, something must be wrong! Why would she…?  I’ve got to go!” The panic in his voice had reached another level, Scorpius noted, intrigued. 

Father got up and approached Mr. Potter. “Harry. I’m sure everything’s just fine. If anything bad has happened, she would have contacted you by now, don’t you think?” 

“No. Yes. No.  Sh- Arrgh.” Mr. Potter threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know!” he bit out eventually, looking defeated. 

“You could just Floo her and ask?” Father suggested. He had reached the other man now and tried to put a hand on his shoulder only to have it pushed away. “Harry?” 

“I should do that, yes.” He turned around and was about to walk away. 

“I can lower the wards and you could use the fireplace in here.” 

“No. Er, no, thank you. I think I’m going to use the one in the living room, you know?” 

Scorpius didn’t know and he also didn’t like the idea. It would be that much nicer if Mr. Potter stayed in the room for his conversation. Much more convenient, too, since it would be easier to eavesdrop. Unfortunately his father didn’t see things his way; he just nodded and asked, “Come back before you leave?” 

Mr. Potter promised and Scorpius pouted inwardly. Damn. He was so bored. But then another thought came to his mind and he stiffened. Why would Al and Lily’s mother ask for him? She didn’t particularly like him and he could think of no other reason for her to act this way except that something was wrong his with friend and/or Lily and that thought was rather disturbing. 

%&%&% 

Lily was pacing in her room, neat, straight lines from her bed to the door and back. She hated being home alone at the best of times and now, when she didn’t know if her brother was alright or not, she hated it even more. She despised the adults’ decision that she was to stay home. Ginny had told her it was because she had to inform her instantly when Al showed up – should he show up – but Lily knew it was simply because her mother didn’t want to deal with one more missing teenager.  

Oh, how she hated being the youngest and her “parent’s little girl”. She wasn’t stupid and she had two healthy eyes. She could help! And wasn’t it the most unfair of unfair things that her cousins, Hugo and Rose, were allowed to help look for _her_ brother and she wasn’t? They had even asked her oldest brother James to come back from his friend’s house where he was spending a week of his holidays. But no, everyone was allowed to help – everyone but her. She was locked up in this house and expected to do what she was told. And she was supposed to be happy about it! 

Seething, Lily went to write a letter to Scorpius. He wasn’t involved and no one needed to know that she’d been complaining to him. 

%&%&% 

Harry pulled his head back out of the flames and cursed under his breath. Ginny, or no one else for that matter, had answered his call and that only led his anxiety to increase. There weren’t any house-elves he could ask because Ginny was on Hermione’s side in that matter. She also didn’t believe in Muggle technology and therefore didn’t carry a mobile phone with her. He could owl her, of course, but since he had no idea where she was, and he was also way too impatient, Harry decided to call Ron.  

If anything had happened at all, and for whatever reason Ginny hadn’t thought to contact him, Ron would know. And Ron had a mobile phone, as had Harry. The little things had proved their worth rather often so far. They made it that much easier to connect with people who weren’t home so you couldn’t contact them via Floo and more and more people didn’t deny their usefulness anymore. 

Taking his own device out of his robes, Harry selected Ron’s name on the list and pressed call. 

“ _Harry. Hi_.” 

“Ron, hello… Uh, do you happen to know where I could find Ginny? I have to talk to her, but she’s not home and I don’t know where I should start looking for her.” Harry was proud of the wording of his question. No one would be able to say he was worried out of his mind upon hearing it. 

“ _She’s with me_.” Ron cleared his throat and Harry pictured him fiddling with something. He seemed to be nervous. Merlin, what had happened? ” _Listen, Harry, it’s not my place to tell you, and I know she’ll kill me the instant she learns that I went against her wishes, but I think you should know that…_ ” 

Ron told him that Albus was missing and that quite a lot of people were already looking for him. Harry’s heart stopped beating somewhere in the middle of his tale and only resumed its job when Harry consciously forced it. His fingers tightened around the phone and his free hand scrambled for something to hold on to. When he touched the back of a sofa he carefully lowered himself into it. 

It took a lot of effort and two tries until he was able to ask his friend why the hell he hadn’t been informed, and when he got a truthful answer he wished he’d never asked. He swallowed a scathing reply – Ron wasn’t the one he was angry with – and they agreed that it’d be best if Harry joined them in their search. He would never stay home, anyway, but that way he would know where to start and what places had already been checked. 

He ended the call and all but ran back to the dining room. Deliberately slowing his steps, he entered the room and announced that he, indeed, had to leave immediately. 

Draco’s expression turned serious. “Do you need help? What happened?” 

“I- No, it’s okay. I’m sure it’ll be alright.” Harry reassured him. 

“What happened?” Draco’s tone was sharper now but his eyes softened. Harry didn’t know what to make of that discovery. 

“It’s family business.” He really didn’t want to tell Draco that his son had gone missing because he had slept in until after midday and forgotten all about his promise to accompany his two youngest children to town. 

“I see.  What happened, Harry?” 

“It’s nothing. I’ll be back when it’s resolved.” He didn’t have time to humour the other man at the moment. He was well aware that he was facing the most persistent person, not to mention Draco’s stubbornness, he had ever met and if he started explaining he’d never make it on time to the meeting point where Ron would be waiting for him. 

Draco pushed his plate away and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Don’t be difficult, Harry Potter. It’s not ‘nothing’ or else you wouldn’t be as anxious to leave as you are. So?” 

Harry suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, albeit just barely. He noticed the concern in Draco’s demeanour but the truth was he couldn’t deal with it. If he were honest with himself he’d have to admit that he couldn’t deal with many things lately and he pushed them back for a time in the far away future when he’d have the time to sort them out. 

“Are you trying to piss me off?”  

As Scorpius spit his juice out and struggled for breath, Harry blinked. He couldn’t have heard that right. 

“Sorry?” 

“Don’t make me repeat it. Speak!” Draco ordered. 

“I’m not your child and you can’t force me to do as you say.” Harry couldn’t believe Draco’s cheek. Well, he couldn’t believe that he didn’t comment on the mess Scorpius had made, either, but that wasn’t his business and so he chose to ignore it. 

“Gods, fortunately not!” was the heartfelt reply. 

Harry’s jaw dropped to the floor. He didn’t bother with a comeback, just whirled around and stormed out of the room, his robes billowing behind him in a way that would do his former potions professor justice. 

He hadn’t asked for it, but it was great to know Draco’s opinion of him. He was sure he would have never gotten an honest response like that if he had asked him outright. 

%&%&% 

Hermione Weasley was not happy when she saw just how many people were walking up and down the streets. How were they supposed to find one single person within that mass of people? It was next to impossible and she knew that they’d need a lot of luck. Luck and stamina, she thought. She didn’t plan to return home with the knowledge that Albus was still walking around somewhere by himself. 

Rose and Hugo walked in front of her, accepting her orders to stay within sight, for once. She figured it must have been her tone and made a mental note to use that voice again when she needed their cooperation the next time. 

She had fought with herself whether she should tell them the truth or leave them in the dark and in the end she had settled for the truth. She didn’t believe in lies and her children were old enough not to freak out when they learned what had happened. Plus she thought they’d try harder to find him if they knew he was in difficulty. 

Well, so far they had had no luck and as far as she knew neither had anyone else. She didn’t know how many people Ginny had mobilised but Ron had called a few friends and some co-workers, so at least ten people were searching for Albus by now. She forced herself to think positively and told herself over and over that Albus was old enough to be out there on his own and that he knew his way around London well enough. At least she hoped that that was true. Because if it wasn’t, then, well… No, she didn’t want to think about the consequences. But if that was the case then why wasn’t he home by now? 

%&%&% 

Draco frowned at Harry’s departure, turned his attention to his son and raised an eyebrow. “You might want to clean that up.” 

Scorpius scrambled for his wand and cast a Cleaning Charm on him and the table. Draco watched him struggle to keep his hand steady and sighed. 

“I’m not really sure what happened here.” And he also didn’t know why he’d said that. 

“Did Mrs. Potter say anything else?” 

“No, she didn’t. But she seemed concerned.” Draco ran a hand through his hair. “We are barely on speaking terms, Scorpius, so I’m not surprised.” 

“Do you hate her?” 

Draco wanted to ask why that was important, but he stopped himself in time. Of course it was important for Scorpius. He had done his best to ensure that his son grew up without the prejudices his parents had fed him from birth. Albus was one of his closest friends and he had become quite fond of Lily over their private potions lessons – Lily as the student and Scorpius her teacher – even though Draco couldn’t shake off the niggling thought in his mind that Scorpius had started helping her in order to make an impression on Albus and his family. However, it was natural for him to ask if his father hated the children’s mother, even more so since Draco was sure she didn’t let him feel how she felt about his father. He was certain that Ginny Potter treated his son well. 

“No, I don’t hate her.” Hate was a strong word and Draco had learned to use it carefully, most of the time avoiding it. Thankfully Scorpius hadn’t asked _what_ his feelings were toward Harry’s wife because Draco didn’t know the answer to that. He didn’t like her that much but she didn’t bother him. He could easily ignore her. Hate was not among the feelings, though. He was able to answer his son truthfully without hurting him. Draco was actually relieved. 

“So… Do you think we should go looking for Mr. Potter and see if we can help?” 

Now that was a rather interesting question and once again Draco didn’t quite know what to say. He had noticed that he was caught off-guard much too easily lately and he didn’t like it one bit. He didn’t want to get sick, Draco told himself. “Well, I’m not really sure where we should start looking for him.” Draco winced. His evasive strategies had certainly seen better days. 

And of course his son called him on it instantly. “That wasn’t the point. I wanted to know if you think you should help. If you do, we can start worrying about the logistics.”  

Could this child be even more like him? Sometimes his reasoning was eerily like Draco’s had been when he was that age and there were times it worried him. He had tried so hard to raise his son differently and yet they were so much alike. Draco wondered just how many mistakes he had made and when he’d get the punishment for them. 

Rubbing his face with both hands, Draco, suddenly feeling very tired, told his son that he thought it was a great idea and he’d try and find someone who could tell them what had happened so they could figure out a plan. He had known long ago that making an effort and being polite and borderline friendly to people, which he had done for more than two decades, would pay off someday. 

%&%&% 

Al was losing track of time. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he’d last seen his sister but eventually he realised that he was in trouble. He’d been running around in circles and didn’t know where to look for her any longer. He found himself once more in front of this stupid department store and he couldn’t shake the feeling of something being off but he couldn’t pinpoint it.  

Al was aware of his increasing confusion, though. It got harder to remember in which direction he was headed since he had been everywhere repeatedly and everything looked familiar now. He refused to ask for directions, though, and a voice inside his head, suspiciously sounding like his aunt Hermione, pointed out that this was just one of those male issues and he was an idiot for denying himself any help he could get, but Al just shrugged the thought off.  

“Eeek!” Al drew back, quickly hiding behind the corner he had been about to walk around. There was his uncle Ron. Why did he have to be here today, of all days? Unimaginable what would happen if he saw Al here. He’d engage him in a conversation and he’d doubtlessly ask about his siblings and other stuff, and eventually Al would make a mistake and blurt out what he had done, and then he would have ruined his chances to make it right again before anyone noticed. 

Al was good at lots of things. Pretty much everything he did he did well – everything except lying convincingly. And that had been the reason why he’d had to put some distance between him and Lily to begin with. 

%&%&% 

Ginny tried her hardest to keep herself from giving in to her worries and breaking into tears then and there. She could care less what all those people surrounding her thought of her but she’d been in a lot of really disturbing situations and had learned that losing one’s head didn’t help.  

So she forced herself to take a few – she stopped counting when she reached thirty – deep breaths and turned resumed her earlier task: scanning the crowd for her son. 

She continued telling herself that he was alright, that there was a logical explanation why he hadn’t come home so far and that nothing bad could happen to him, anyway. It was broad daylight and London was no death-trap for teenage wizards. She knew he was good at protecting himself against almost anything and so the only reason why she was closer and closer to losing it was just because it was harder to be optimistic as time went by.   

Her eyes never staying longer on a face than was absolutely necessary, Ginny hurried forward. She was driven by the desperate need to find her child, nothing else mattered anymore. It was no longer important that today gave her some handy ammunition against Harry; she wasn’t even convinced that she wanted to use it. She just wanted Albus back, period. 

Suddenly Ginny decided that she didn’t want to search on her own at the moment, she just couldn’t deal with the solitude. All the people jostling her did nothing for her. She still was lonely and she wanted a member of her family close by. For the first time in weeks her strong demeanour cracked. Rather desperate for some actual company, she headed toward the meeting point with Ron, knowing he’d be there soon. 

Then, all of a sudden, she came face to face with the last person she wanted to see right now. “Harry.” Her tone was hostile and she didn’t care one bit. 

“Ginny. Hi. Any luck?” He looked subdued. Just like she wanted him to, she thought with satisfaction. 

“Do you see Albus somewhere? No? Then, go figure,” Ginny hissed. Then a thought hit her. “Wait. What are you doing here?” 

“Uh, that would be my fault,” Ron’s voice sounded beside her and Ginny’s head snapped around, glaring daggers at him. 

“Explain.” 

“He called, I told him, and he’s going to help. I don’t think that’s the worst that can happen,” Ron said calmly. 

Ginny seethed quietly. She wasn’t prepared to let Harry get away with his mistake that easily, but of course having him support them was an advantage and they needed every one they could get. “Okay. Ron can tell you where to start.” She turned around and stalked away, her earlier thoughts forgotten. 

%&%&% 

Harry sighed. It could have been worse, but didn’t go well, either. Fortunately Ron chose to ignore the most recent events and concentrated on their task at hand. It didn’t take him long to clue Harry in since they were used to working together and understood each other without needing many words.  

So it was only minutes after his encounter with his wife that Harry was on his own again. His eyes were wide open and didn’t miss a thing as he slowly made his way down the street that he was to search but in his mind his thoughts tumbled all over each other.  

His bad conscience was still on the forefront of his mind, accusing him of putting his own pathetic needs before his children. Deep down he knew that everyone got sick now and again and it wasn’t his fault for sleeping longer than usual, especially after the potions he had guzzled the night before in order to get rid of said sickness. A migraine wasn’t anything you asked for, after all. And even after his long history with headaches, this one had been nasty. 

Right behind the bad conscience were Harry’s worries about his son’s well-being, closely followed by a surge of helplessness. If this were the wizarding world, he’d have every existing Auror looking for Al, milking his status for all it was worth. But whether he liked to acknowledge it or not, he couldn’t do this. Well, he could, of course, but using magic among Muggles was very frowned upon and a teenager gone missing for a mere few hours, without any indication of a crime, wasn’t severe enough to excuse using tracking spells and every other method coming to his mind unbidden. He had to contend himself with looking for the boy. Looking and praying that he’d be found soon. 

%&%&% 

Scorpius didn’t know how long it would take his father to find out anything useful. He knew the inquiries had to be made subtly and that could take a lot of time. He wished there was a way for him to make his own investigation and he was just reaching for a quill and parchment, about to start making a list of possible contacts to use, when a familiar sound alerted him. He turned toward it and right enough, there was an owl hovering in front of his window. He let the bird in and retrieved the letter. 

He all but tripped over his own feet on the way back to his desk when he recognised the handwriting. He ripped Lily’s letter open and skimmed over it as fast as his could, gasping when he processed what exactly he’d been reading. 

Scorpius stood in an instant, toppling over his chair in his haste to run out of the room. He wasn’t around long enough to hear it crash to the floor. 

“Father! Dad! Where are you?” he shouted as he hurried downstairs. 

Father shot out of his study just as Scorpius ran around the corner, waving the paper in his hand like mad. “What? Are you alright?” 

Gasping, Scorpius thrust the letter at his father. He didn’t really think he was able to form coherent sentences at the moment and he’d rather not give the man reason to scold him for behaving like a headless chicken. 

To his credit his father didn’t ask questions. He simply took the letter and read it quickly. By the time he was finished Scorpius had regained his breath and was looking at his father expectantly. 

Father looked up. “This is from Lily Potter?” 

Scorpius nodded. 

“Well, that certainly explains why Harry left in such a hurry…” Father mused. Scorpius waited for him to add more, something about how strange it was that Mr. Potter hadn’t at least told them what happened and asked them for help, or at least comment on the man’s odd behaviour lately, but he got disappointed. 

After waiting for what he considered an appropriate period of time, Scorpius asked,” And what do we do now? Did you manage to find out anything?” 

“I was just about to do that when your yelling interrupted me. I’ll go see if I’m able to reach the person I was talking once more, hopefully then we’ll know where to start.” With that his father turned around and strode back into his study. Not sure what was expected of him, Scorpius stayed rooted to the spot. He had no idea why his hadn’t been told off for the racket he caused and he certainly didn’t want to try his luck. 

His thoughts went back to Lily’s letter and he tried to remember what she had written. Well, apart from the most important information, of course. His mind was blank, though. It seemed like nothing had registered besides the fact that Al was missing and that her whole family was out looking for him with no success so far. Scorpius’ breath hitched in his throat. He wasn’t really worried about Al because he knew his friend and was pretty certain that he was able to look after himself. No, Scorpius was worried about the fact that he had left Lily alone to begin with and with no explanation whatsoever. Why would he do such a thing? He was the most responsible person Scorpius knew and while it wasn’t exactly careless to make her wait for him for a short period of time, why hadn’t he just told her where he was heading so she wouldn’t worry? That sounded so unlike Al and Scorpius wondered what had caused the boy to act out of character. 

%&%&% 

Ron was slowly but surely reaching his wits’ end. They had looked everywhere – repeatedly – and it was getting more and more crowded as the day went on. Now, late in the afternoon, the streets were packed with people. Rationally, Ron knew that since they hadn’t found Albus by now there was little hope for one of them to catch sight of him. 

Frowning, he scratched his head. Now what to do? Of course it made no sense to suggest ending the search. Not only did he dread to admit defeat himself, but Ginny would rip his head off if he should dare to voice his thoughts. Well, he imagined she’d be too slow because he was fairly certain he’d be dead after uttering the first three words, killed by his best friend of almost thirty years. 

Harry was awfully short tempered lately and Ron didn’t look forward to the day his anger and frustration would be directed at him. He hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else, but after a rather long conversation with his sister a few weeks ago he knew that the Potters had massive issues. Ginny hadn’t told him what caused the problems, but from what she had said Ron assumed it was a bit of everything: too little communication, too little common ground, too little interest in one another and too much interest in everything outside the marriage.  

Ron blinked. Was that it? Did she have an affair or did she accuse Harry of cheating? That couldn’t be it, could it? Had she insinuated that they were planning to get divorced? Ron wasn’t completely sure, but one or two comments of hers could be interpreted that way. Oh gods. That explained why she didn’t want to tell Harry and now that he thought about it, he also understood why she blamed Harry for forgetting about the date he had with his children. This wasn’t a normal trip to town of a father and his kids. No, they probably agreed on some strange kind of schedule, allowing Harry to see the children only on allocated dates. Did he even live at home any longer? And if he didn’t, then where was he staying? 

Well, he had no idea and Ron didn’t appreciate being left in the dark. He had always been curious and thinking that he had little idea what went on in his own family and with his best friend? That was unacceptable and he intended to change it as soon as possible, in fact, right after he had found his nephew. Sadly he still didn’t know how to tackle this problem. 

Still lost in his thoughts, it took the ringing tone of his mobile a few moments to cut through his awareness. He didn’t bother to check who was calling him before he accepted the call and so his jaw dropped in surprise when he realised who exactly he was speaking to. 

%&%&% 

Unknown to her, Hermione was thinking along the same lines as her husband regarding the situation with Albus. Of course things hadn’t gone like she had expected them to and what had started as a shopping trip with a little side effect had quickly changed into a frantic search for their second youngest relative. 

About half an hour ago they had stumbled across Ginny and, seeing the dark scowl on her face, Hermione had decided to drag her along with them instead of letting her head in the opposite direction on her own. Her children walking in sight at all times, Hermione still tried to keep at least one eye looking for Albus and focused what was left of her attention on Ginny. 

Hermione didn’t have to prod her long for information until she acknowledged that things between her and Harry were strained, and that him abandoning his fatherly duties today, for Merlin knew what, had only been one more reason for her to be annoyed--even more than she had been just this morning. Adding the fact that he had not only acted careless and egotistical but also managed to endanger her son, Ginny felt she had every right to hate her husband at the moment. Though she corrected herself almost instantly, claiming she was stressed and didn’t know what to think anymore, Hermione noted that there was a lot of frustration behind the statement and that hate was not as far from how she would describe the other woman’s current feelings for Harry as she wanted Hermione to believe. 

“Ginny, I understand. You don’t have to explain yourself,” she reassured her friend and sister-in-law. In truth she wanted nothing more than to get all of her questions answered, but she figured that had to wait. Also, Hermione wasn’t insensitive to other people’s feelings and she was aware that Ginny didn’t need to be interrogated on top of everything else. 

Ginny nodded, apparently grateful and a little relieved that she’d found someone to talk to, Hermione noted. She sent a small smile her way and when she saw Ginny’s eyes light up briefly, it went wider of its own accord. 

“You know, I never thought it would be like that. I always imagined the end of a marriage to be a bit more dramatic.” 

“Oh?” Hermione asked, intrigued.  

“Mmm. It’s rather anticlimactic, to be honest. We’ve just drifted apart, I guess, nothing happened to write home about. Neither of us cheated, at least as far as I’m aware, and I don’t think he’s been exceptionally unhappy with me for awhile. It just happened.” Ginny shrugged, looking at Hermione. “You know?” 

“So, you’re saying that it’s really, truly over?” 

“Well, it looks like it. We’ve not talked about what’s going to happen, but I don’t see what else we’re supposed to do.” 

Hermione was surprised at the calmness with which Ginny answered her and voiced her concern. 

“Oh, I’m not as calm as I might appear, believe me. I hate it. I really hate the situation we’re in. But there’s not much I can do about it, so I’ve decided to act like the adult I’m supposed to be and make sure that we all come out in the end unscathed.” Her face darkened. “Well, it went rather well until Harry decided he couldn’t be bothered to do his part of the bargain.” 

“Which is?” Hermione asked before she could stop herself. 

Ginny snickered. “Not to drag anyone else into our mess. I’m not to try and pull the kids on my side and Harry’s supposed to try spending more time with them in order to reassure them that his moving out eventually doesn’t mean he doesn’t love them anymore.” 

“And… Is this the first time he messed up?” Hermione asked tentatively. She couldn’t picture Harry neglecting his children – or anyone else, for that matter – but it was a fact that he had failed to show up that morning. 

“Really messed up? Yes. But he’s been away a lot lately. I’m not sure I want to know where he spends his nights…” Ginny muttered. 

Hermione’s eyes widened. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, either. 

As they walked on in silence Hermione debated with herself whether she wanted to risk Ginny’s wrath by addressing her doubts about their mission ending successfully. In the end, she decided that she’d pass, thank you very much. She’d mention it to Ron when they met the next time and then he could have the honour.  

“Gin?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Do you think Albus’ disappearance is connected to your situation at home?” The instant the last word had left her lips Hermione wanted to kick herself. What a stupid thing to say, she scolded herself. Unfortunately what was said was said and she couldn’t take it back. 

To her relief Ginny didn’t seem irritated, though. “No, not really – at least I don’t think so. They don’t like it, of course, and I’m sure they’re not really dealing with it; they’re still hoping it’s all a bad joke and things will get back to normal soon.” Ginny looked pensive. “If they had been recently informed that it’s final, maybe I could see him reacting like that, but since that’s not the case…no, I really don’t think so. There had to have been something else he didn’t like.” 

“And Lily had no idea whatsoever?” Hermione asked incredulously. After all, her niece was a bright girl and Albus wasn’t the most secretive person on earth. 

“No. She wanted to look for a birthday present and then he told her he wanted to look for something and he’d only be a moment, asking her to wait. Which she did, only he never came back. I swear, if it turns out that this is some kind of payback for whatever one of us did to him, I’ll…” Ginny trailed off, either because she didn’t know what she’d do in that case or because she couldn’t bring herself to utter threats toward her still missing child. Hermione found she could understand both cases. 

%&%&% 

After she had sent the letter off to Scorpius, Lily was feeling a bit lighter. Unfortunately it was quite short-lived and soon she was pacing again. Angry at herself for letting Al walk away from her like that, for waiting as long as she did until she went home, looking for help, and most of all for not noticing that something was wrong with her brother. Admittedly they were not the closest of siblings, but they got along well enough. 

Having nothing better to do and after she had assured herself that no one was around to catch her, Lily decided to go the Al’s room to snoop around. Maybe she could find a clue for whatever and if not, well, at least she would be occupied for the time being. And what with the way her life had turned out to be lately she reasoned she deserved a little distraction. 

She had been prepared for a lot of things when she had started going through his things. Most of them wouldn’t have gotten as much as a raised eyebrow out of her. But she hadn’t expected that. Staring at the proof for the reason behind Al’s strange reaction in her hand, Lily wished somehow she had respected his privacy enough to never touch his journal.  

%&%&% 

Ron practically growled when he put his phone away once again. Why was everyone calling him and forcing him to tell them what happened? Worse, why did they all insist on participating in the search? Cursing his bad luck for the umpteenth time that day, Ron decided he’d decline any responsibility for what was about to happen when his latest phone buddy showed up. He’d just step back and enjoy the show. Yes, that’s what he would do. Well, that or else he’d run fast and far away from the explosion that was about to happen.  

At least, Ron told himself, if he was lucky they would focus on each other and not on the fact that he was the one who informed Draco Malfoy, of all people, what had happened in the Potter family. He couldn’t imagine that Harry would be overjoyed to see Malfoy and Ginny would absolutely hate it. Oh, he was so dead… 

%&%&% 

Ginny and Hermione waved greetings across the street where they’d seen a few of Ron’s friends, also involved in the search. Thankfully they stayed where they were and didn’t cross the street for a quick chat. Ginny wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone any longer. She was barely able to be civil around Hermione and the other woman was doing her best to make herself invisible, leaving Ginny alone. The only thing she had fought her on was Ginny’s wish to search on her own once more. Hermione had denied her wish and refused to give in no matter what Ginny told her. In the end she had agreed to stay together – not because she thought it was a good idea but because she was too tired to argue. 

She was tired, period. What had been just a few short hours to most people walking through this particular part of London had felt like an eternity to Ginny. She just wanted it to be over already.  

Later that afternoon she would wish that she had been more specific in how she wanted the situation to be resolved. 

%&%&% 

Al was ready to ask for help. From anyone. And to be honest he had been ready quite a long time now. But he still couldn’t make himself address some random stranger because he wasn’t exactly sure what he should ask, anyway. He could always step in front of one of the many familiar faces that kept popping up in the crowd every so often but that meant he had to face his parents eventually and tell them that he’d left their darling daughter to her own devices without making certain that nothing happened to her.  

Somehow he found that he didn’t like that idea very much.  

So he did his best to hide himself from view and kept his eyes peeled for Lily. Yes, Al was aware that there was a search party looking for him and Lily. There was no way in hell that all of those people were here by coincidence and the vague hopes he had harboured that Lily had gone home shattered. Certainly the amount of people running around indicated that his parents were worried out of their minds.  

He was in so much trouble. 

Al sighed. He had yet to see one of his parents but he was sure they were around here somewhere. He had caught a glimpse of Rose and Hugo not that long ago and if he remembered things correctly then these two shouldn’t be here at all. They were supposed to spend the day on a trip or something with their parents. Al didn’t recall the destination anymore though he knew he had been told, but it certainly wasn’t Oxford Street on a busy Saturday afternoon. He had ruined their plans and he could only imagine how pissed they were. Well, it hadn’t been intentional but somehow he doubted they’d understand. 

He was close to giving in to the temptation of allowing himself to freak out a bit when his eyes zeroed in on a beloved sight. There, right across the street, were two unmistakable people. They were tall enough to be seen amidst the crowd, and even if he had tried he couldn’t miss the telltale white blond hair. 

He wanted to cry. Scorpius and his father were the answer to his prayers. They had no idea what had happened and they could tell him where he was and in which direction he had to go in order to find the place where he had lost Lily. And if he was really lucky, Mr. Malfoy would allow Scorpius to keep him some company. Then they just needed to get a bit of a distance between them and the man and when he had confided in his friend he’d help him search. Thank Merlin! 

He followed them on his side of the street, waiting for a chance to cross it without getting himself killed. Eventually he made it and jogged after them, having to catch up because he’d lost time by crossing the street.  

As Al called his name, Scorpius stopped and turned around. When he saw Al his hand shot out and he caught his father’s sleeve. Of course he wasn’t able to hear what was said between father and son but Scorpius didn’t waste much time. He was at Al’s side almost instantly and wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug. 

Al reciprocated the embrace happily, but didn’t dare to cling to the taller boy for long. Scorpius didn’t let him go, though. He drew back a bit but held Al at arm’s length. 

“Tell me what the fuck you’ve been thinking!” he then demanded and Al blinked. 

“Er, what? I’m sorry, did I forget something?” 

“Cut it out!” Scorpius yelled and now Al was really confused. Had he managed to annoy the younger Malfoy, as well? That wasn’t good. Well, whatever it was it couldn’t be changed and he had to draw a number and wait in line with all the other people that no doubt were dying to let him know what they were thinking of him in general, and today in particular. 

Suddenly someone was blocking out the sun and Al steeled himself for a harsh tongue-lashing from Mr. Malfoy. The man had been nothing but kind to him so far, but he recalled his mother’s reaction when she first learned about his budding friendship with Scorpius Malfoy, and when the boy started to help Lily with potions she’d nearly had a coronary. So, yes, he was indirectly aware that Mr. Malfoy had a less than pleasant side. 

When he didn’t hear anything for long moments, Al looked up and met concerned grey eyes. He gulped. Had anything else happened that he didn’t know about? Was he worrying about the wrong things? Gods, what if…? 

“Albus, are you all right?” 

Al nodded, trying to clear his thoughts in the meantime.  

“Are you sure?” Mr. Malfoy asked. 

Yes, of course he was sure. After all it wasn’t him who had disappeared without a trace. Al opted for merely nodding again.  

Mr. Malfoy stepped closer to them and Al started to shiver slightly. He was still waiting for the blow and it unnerved him that the man was so calm and friendly when Scorpius had been yelling at him for unknown reasons. 

He began to wonder if it had been better if he had just let them get on with whatever it was that drove them to Muggle London. Er, Muggle London? The Malfoys? And then realisation dawned. They knew! There was no way they should have known but they knew.  

Al jumped back, thus freeing himself from Scorpius’ touch, and if the look on Scorpius’ face was anything to go by his panic had to be quite obvious. 

“Lily sent me an owl and we decided to help everyone looking for you.” Scorpius stated and proved once again why Al loved him so much. No one else in the whole wide world would have been able to understand him that well within a few short moments. Well, he was willing to bet that most people never made it to that level, no matter how much time they had to study him. 

Scorpius needed just one sentence to inform Al that he knew everything and to let him know at the same time that Lily was home and that she was safe and that, indeed, everyone was out looking for him. He had no idea how that was even possible but he was too busy being relieved to care. 

%&%&% 

Hermione couldn’t believe her eyes. There, right in front of her, stood Albus sandwiched between two blond wizards. They had made an effort and dressed in something akin to Muggle clothing, but still every pore screamed wizard. Considering their identities, Hermione couldn’t say she was surprised.  

She had heard, of course, from various sources that Albus was friends with Scorpius Malfoy. Some people didn’t mind and some didn’t like it. She knew for a fact that Ginny had hated it in the beginning but started to change her mind, at least regarding Scorpius, when Lily started to show interest in him. Personally, Hermione thought the sudden change of mind was at least partly due to the better marks Lily received in potions, thanks to Scorpius’ tireless help. Well, Ginny’s newfound tolerance toward the child hadn’t extended to the parent, though, and seeing that the Malfoys seemed to be the reason why Albus had been nowhere to be found for hours… Oh, Ginny wouldn’t be happy about that, Hermione feared.  

She braced herself, called for her children to stop and when she had their attention as well as Ginny’s, she pointed toward the unlikely trio. 

%&%&% 

Draco watched the two children run toward them, followed by Weasley and Granger – eh, Weasley. He didn’t even have the time to roll his eyes until Albus was pulled away from them and into his family’s arms. They passed him from one pair of arms to the next like a rag doll and after one round he once more was squeezed to within an inch of his life by his mother.  

He tried his best to blend out the following discussion and its side effects. If it had been his family he’d have waited for more private surroundings and he would never understand what all the tears were for, but somehow they seemed to be able to sort their differences despite the chaos. 

Pulling out his mobile phone, Draco decided to add one more good deed to his account and called Ron Weasley, telling him that the prodigal son had been found and giving him the coordinates of the reunion.  

Scorpius had returned to his side soon after the arrival of everyone else and together they witnessed Weasley arrive, followed by Harry and his eldest son. There were a bunch of other people that looked somewhat familiar, probably friends of the family, or maybe even fellow Aurors, but Draco wasn’t interested enough to care. 

Standing at the outskirt area of the gathering surrounding Albus, they were still close enough to hear most of what was spoken. That’s what always being among dozens of people did to you, Draco thought. At least you learned to speak out or else you wouldn’t be heard. However, his son had learned the same thing without having to drown out voices all his life, but Draco was prepared to admit that Scorpius was special. 

Tramping down his instinct to flee and let them do what they wanted on their own, Draco dug his feet in and stayed put. Not so much for his own sake, he told himself, but for Scorpius. The poor child had been worried about his friend and deserved to know what had happened.  

At least the discussion or conversation, or whatever it was called, moved in the right direction. It didn’t take the adults more than half an hour approximately until they had the facts straight.  

Apparently Albus had left Lily waiting for him in front of a department store, intending to be back for her shortly. He had even made a mental note to remember the name of it (something with Spencer, but who cared) and, just to be certain, the street. He had planned to head to a bookstore he’d seen somewhere not that far away and when he came back later, she’d been gone. Lily had claimed that she had waited one hour until she left while Albus insisted that he had been gone for only thirty minutes, if not less.  

In the end it was James who solved that mystery. There were two of those shops in the street, even with one of those strange fast restaurants between them and the bookstore Albus had visited. They were located in opposite directions and when Al had exited the store he had run in the wrong direction accidentally. Focused on just the name of the store, he had failed to notice that he was actually in front of the wrong store and therefore couldn’t see his sister. In his panic to find her he apparently hadn’t taken the time to really look at his surroundings, James explained. 

Draco sighed. That was all well and good, but he wondered if he was the only one who was dying to know what had driven the boy to head off alone at all. He hadn’t missed the explanation, Draco was sure. One look to his son confirmed his suspicions. Scorpius wasn’t satisfied with the information they had gotten, either. 

Then Harry looked at him and Draco’s thoughts came to a screeching halt.  

%&%&% 

Lily went to bed that night and still didn’t know what to make of everything. She was, of course, delighted that Al was back and that he was fine. She was also happy that there were no hard feelings between them, but that was about to change the instant Al noticed that someone had touched – and read – his journal. Lily had no doubt that she’d never make it to adulthood if that should happen. 

She still felt bad about abusing his trust like that. She had always thought that keeping a journal was a pathetic attempt to dump your frustrations and complaints about family and stuff, but reading about Al’s dreams and worries concerning the person he had fallen in love with unexpectedly had changed her point of view on a few things. And she swore on the journal and her life that she’d never betray his trust again. She might know the reason why Al had freaked when she had told him that she wanted to get something for Scorpius; he must have interpreted more into their relationship than there was, and of course it crushed him. For obvious reasons she couldn’t reassure him that she wasn’t his rival, but she vowed to support him in every way she could in his pursuit of his dreams. 

She had already started when she noticed what book he had bought, telling him that it looked like something Scorpius would like as well. Al had looked happy. 

%&%&%  

The house was quiet when Harry stepped out of the fireplace. Draco had long since adjusted the wards and Harry wasn’t required to announce his arrival anymore. Basically, he came and went as he pleased and he was grateful for the freedom Draco granted him. 

It had been quite unexpected when he had offered Harry a place to retreat should he need it. They had become friends over the years, following the example of their sons, but still hardly ever talked about the women in their lives. Well, Harry had been one of the first people to learn about Draco’s divorce, but that was only when things were already over. Now that he was in a similar situation, Draco seemed to understand what was wrong without being told and offered silent support, for which Harry was grateful. It wasn’t like he could crash on his other best friend’s sofa for a few weeks while he was figuring out whether he wanted to divorce said friend’s sister. 

Then his thoughts got interrupted.  

“Harry?”  

Harry followed the voice into another, bigger and yet more comfortable living room. Even though it was summer it was getting chilly in the huge manor during the nights and Harry shuffled further into the room, closer to the fire Draco had lit. 

Draco patted the sofa beside him, inviting Harry to join him. He motioned toward his glass. “Want some?” 

Harry declined. He still felt the residue of his migraine and didn’t want to nurse it to full bloom by adding alcohol to the mix. 

“Is everything all right with Albus?” 

“Mmm, yes… Thank you so much for finding him for us.” He had said that about a thousand times so far, but it was worth repeating once or twice more, just to be sure he got his point across. 

“As I said before, he found us,” Draco declared but Harry shrugged it off. Technically Draco might be right, but if they hadn’t come there in the first place then Harry was pretty sure they’d still be there, looking for Albus. He had understood that his son’s focus had been on Lily and that he’d talked himself into some half-truths about what being the older sibling – namely the responsible one – meant and he had obviously done everything in his might to keep invisible. It would have taken them hours to find him without the Malfoys’ sudden arrival. 

They sat in silence for a while, Draco swirling his whiskey around in his glass and Harry staring in the flames, daring short glances toward Draco now and then. 

“Say it.” 

“Hmm?” 

“You want to say something. Say it,” Harry told the fireplace. 

“Are _you_ in trouble?” Draco asked quietly, his eyes never leaving his glass, though his movements had stilled. 

“No. Not really. She’s decided that she’s not going to use it against me once she realized that it wasn’t really my fault. I’m not even sure she’d have done it in another case, though, to be honest. Ginny’s not deliberately cruel, quite the contrary, and I believe her when she says she wants what’s best for all of us – including me.” Harry stated firmly. 

“Good.”  

Draco sounded content, almost relieved, upon hearing that and Harry didn’t know what to say. Well, he knew what he wanted to say, he had known for awhile, but he didn’t know if it would be welcome. 

A sharp elbow prodded his ribs. “Say it!”  

Harry heard Draco’s smile before he saw it and the knowledge that it was there helped him gather his courage. 

“Uh, you know, these last few weeks… I enjoyed my stay here with you. Really enjoyed it.” 

“Yes?” There was a panicked undertone in Draco’s voice and Harry felt a few things fall into place. Draco thought he was about to say goodbye and he didn’t want him to leave. Well, that was most wonderful! 

Thus encouraged and now filled with confidence, Harry went on, “I’m short-sighted, you see? And therefore I need things close to me in order to see them clearly. Uh, what I’m trying to say here is--” 

He wasn’t able to continue because before he could utter one more word he found himself with an armful of Draco. The other man had put his glass aside – he didn’t know where – and moved with admirable speed and a cat-like agility and was now sitting in Harry’s lap, his knees on either side of his thighs. He closed the remaining distance between them and sealed their lips together. 

Everything but Draco faded into the background. Harry forgot to breathe – which was actually fortunate because that way he didn’t feel the need for air and could keep devouring Draco’s mouth, their tongues battling for dominance. His body welcomed the endorphins floating around and his headache vanished into thin air.  

Eventually Draco pulled back, gasping, but thankfully he kept his hands in Harry’s hair and didn’t remove himself from his lap. On the contrary. He shifted a bit, wiggling until he found a comfortable position. Harry adjusted his arms wrapped around him and watched with satisfaction as his love settled down to stay. Harry thought that was quite all right, he didn’t intend to let him leave anyway. Ever.   
 

THE END  


End file.
